HJR-3 supporters don't follow the Golden Rule

Eric Miller, founder and executive director of Advance America, speaks in support of HJR-3, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana, during the House Judiciary Committee hearing at the Indiana Statehouse on Monday, Jan. 13, 2014.

The debate around HJR-3 and the decisions of House Speaker Brian Bosma have been heated. Removing the religious and civil rights debate from the equation, I still come to the same conclusion as to opponents of same-sex rights, or the rights of any minority or under-represented group of people: the lack of the Golden Rule

This is not just a religious tenet, but a historical and long-held belief that to do unto others as you would have done to you. I've read opinion submissions for those opposed to same-sex marriage and benefits and it blows my mind how small of a worldview they have, let alone the idea that treating someone else with respect and kindness no matter race, sex, religion is going out of their comfort zone.

What one practices and believes in the privacy of their own homes, I can't fight. I don't want to even try. But for those standing on high moral ground to fight for HJR-3, first know that your champion - Brian Bosma - did not follow the Golden Rule. He did not follow the rules that he was also elected to follow. Even if those who side with him should feel ashamed that he, as Star columnist Erika D. Smith and others have put it so well, "gamed" the system.

This fight for same-sex equality may be momentarily won by Bosma and those who dare not heed the Golden Rule. I know that sooner rather than later, our Supreme Court will do as it has with some many other civil liberties cases and allow same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals.

America is not a nation of hate. We have our scars and a checkered history, but in the end, we always value freedom of choice over individual influence. What Bosma has done is throw Indiana's lawmaking practices in the garbage. He showed the Judiciary Committee as well as voters of all parties (or none) utmost contempt and disrespect because he happens to feel strongly, for whatever reasons, that homosexuals are not worthy of the Golden Rule.

Furthermore, I continue to find this costly argument a detriment to actual progress. Indiana will be on the wrong side of history if we continue to ignore the greater good for our personal beliefs.

So I'm asking anyone - friend and foe of HJR-3 - to at least make a stand for common decency. Leave the judgment of one's sexual preference to their god and give up the fight against good will and the Golden Rule.

I want to treat everyone in our state with respect and give them the freedom of choice to believe what they will, but in the public eye of government, it's time for compassion and compromise. It's time for everyone to have the rights afforded to them by the Bill of Rights (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). And it's time for so-called Christians to practice what they preach. That starts with the Golden Rule.

Brian Bosma, why don't you lead us, sir?

Justin Spicer

Carmel

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

HJR-3 supporters don't follow the Golden Rule

The debate around HJR-3 and the decisions of House Speaker Brian Bosma have been heated.